According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 37,261 people died in traffic crashes in 2008 in the United States (latest figures available), including an estimated 11,773 people who died in alcohol-impaired driving crashes. Drunk driving fatalities accounted for 32% of all traffic deaths last year, that is, on average someone is killed in an alcohol-impaired driving crash every 45 minutes in the U.S. (Source: NHTSA/FARS, 2009)

Drunk Driving

Although countless attempts have been made in order to spread awareness about dunk driving, many people still do it repeatedly, careless of the consequences! Apparently, a night in jail or a ticket is just not cutting if for them.

Therefore, Huntington Beach is considering a new tactic against drunk driving: public shaming on Facebook.

“After the idea was suggested Monday at a City Council meeting, the city’s Police Department is looking into posting the names of suspected drunk drivers on Facebook, said Lt. Russell Reinhart.

The police of Amsterdam just announced that they will be using Twitter (twitter.com/politieaa) during the upcoming New Year’s celebration to update the public with round the hour security information.

Police Using Twitter

The police expect 40,000 people to come to the Museum Square (which is just behind the Van Gogh Museum) to celebrate New Year’s on Friday. By using Twitter, they will inform the public about security issues as well as how best to reach the square in case of traffic jams, etc.

The Amsterdam police has started using Twitter for big events for the first time this year. On example is when there was a celebration for the Dutch national football team when they came back from the World Cup.

The city of Groningen (in the north of Holland) has also announced it will use Twitter to manage New Year’s celebrations.

Three teens who were on a hit list posted on Facebook have been killed in the past 10 days in a southwestern Colombian town, officials say. Police say they do not know who posted the list or why the names are on it.

Hyves came to my attention recently through an article in a Dutch newspaper about how the police are using social media - in this case Hyves.nl - to help look for clues in the murder of a 55 year old man, who was found dead in a forest. The man was killed in a knife attack, his legs were separated from his body and was partly undressed!

Is Facebook’s founder and co-founders in REAL trouble this time? News is buzzing about death penalty due to the fact that Facebook has allowed the setting up of a Facebook group which is viewed as “blasphemous” according to Islamic beliefs. “It is reported that petitioner Muhammad Azhar Sidiqque is waiting...

It seems that sex offenders, murderers and stalkers are seeing Facebook as a great and effortless platform for seducing and attracting children and causing tremendous disturbances in families and in the overall safety of the community!

Are we really holding our "precious" freedom in our hands? Are we appreciating it as we should? Are we conscious of how our actions might negatively influence the health and sanity of our freedom? I think not!

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